Editor-In-Chic: BBW Evelyn Lozada Takes Her Talents To VIBE, Talks Breaking The Friend Code With Jennifer And How Rihanna Can Do No Wrong

Without giving too much away, what is the juiciest part of the book?
There’s a mistress in the book and she’s physically assaulted. I think the readers would be very surprised as to who physically assaulted her. She was a mistress of one of the players of the book. Towards the end, you’ll be like, ‘Get the hell out of here,’ because you’re thinking it’s one person and it ends up being…well, you know.

What is your reaction to the naysayers and haters who are wondering why you wrote a book?
I’ve learned, especially from Chad, that controversy is good. Nothing phases him and he’s like, ‘Why do you care?’ I’ve learned a lot of him: the more popular and more successful you become, the more haters and the more attorneys you need [laughs].

How do you develop a tough skin for that?
You can’t do this and be sensitive. For example, you know Suzie [Ketcham], she gets a lot of shit from the show. After she films the show, she doesn’t watch it or go on Twitter. She’s like, ‘I don’t know how you deal with it.’ I’ve accepted that this is a part of my life and a part of my world now. The more the show became popular, and I started dating Chad, and I got engaged to Chad, it’s been like chaos. I’m never going to hide and I’m always one of those people that say TV can be a gift and a curse, and at the same time it’s opened up a lot of doors for me that I never would have imagined. I can look at [the show] and say, Maybe I shouldn’t have handled it like that. Maybe I shouldn’t have thrown that bottle at Kenya, you know what I mean? If I’m blessed to be on TV for another five seasons, you won’t see Evelyn doing that. I’ve learned from that situation.

In your last chat with Jen, a lot was said. Could you ever move forward into a space where you could at least be in the same room with her?
I think so. A lot was happening during that time. I’m one of those people, I said some things and I was just like, that was not cool. I live by loyalty and I feel like at that point I broke the friend code. I should have never broken that code and I should have never stooped down to that level. Like, if she wants to do interviews and slick comments, it is what it is. I don’t hate her. People just get caught up in this industry; you do interviews and say certain things. I truly don’t wish her anything negative, we’ve gone through a lot together as friends from moving out, men drama, all types of stuff. It’s just tough having to relive it then talk about it. You never have that time for healing. But now that the show is done and things are calming down, I’m not angry anymore about it and I don’t hate her at all. I don’t really hate anybody, I was just upset how things were handled.

Do you miss her or the friendship?
I miss her. We were friends for 10 years. I was in her wedding, so you know yeah, and your thinking you guys are going to do this show together, your BFF, and then your kind of like what happened? And we are mutual friends with a lot of people, so everything else became weird energy. It was tough.

Now, Rihanna is one of your good friends, but from a role model standpoint, how do you view her influence to younger people?
We became cool on Twitter [laughs], and she’s cool! She lives her life and does what the fawk she wants and I love that about her. It’s tough because all of a sudden your supposed to be perfect and a role model to everyone and not live your life and I think she does what she needs to do, she’s young and having fun. Growing up I didn’t necessarily say oh my god look at Madonna I want to be just like her, I just loved her music. I feel like people put so much pressure on these celebrities and it’s like I think parents should be role models and if you don’t want your kids watching these things then don’t. Like my daughter is almost 19 and she will tell you that growing up she had parental control for the TV, because of HBO etc. In my eyes, Rihanna can do no wrong, I think she’s an amazing artist. She’s gorgeous, handles her business, and lives her life with no apologies.

Does she come to you about… let’s say, the drama that’s been happening with Meek Mill, Drake and Chris Brown?
We don’t discuss personal things like that. It’s just, if I happen to be in her city or she’s in mine, we’ll hang out.

Check the gallery below for pics of Evelyn’s friends and family along with some of her fabulous footwork!